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Scary Logos
Background About Scary Logos refer to a variety of vintage television production company logos that were used as bumper sequences between the 1960s and early 1990s. Although their perceived eeriness has been disputed, a handful of pre-roll animations have been found to cause fear in many viewers, most notably the logos of Screen Gems and Viacom nicknamed “S From Hell” and “V of Doom," respectively. Origin As early as 1998, television fans were discussing the frightening aspects of these vintage logos online. One of the earliest threads was posted to the rec.sport.pro-wrestling1 Usenet newsgroup on September 16th, 1998 asking if others found the "Big Purple Viacom 'V' of Doom" (shown below, left) scarier than the booming voice that said "Viacom" (shown below, right) in their 1990s bumpers. Three of the posters agreed that the V of Doom had invoked fear in them when they were younger. Viacom Background It is very well known as one of the most popular 'scary logos' ever created during the time frame, along with the "S from Hell", "The Mask Of Guo Xiang", "Princess Ozma", and "THX". In fact, this is the very first logo known to be labeled as "scary" on the Internet. Despite its label though, it's a favorite by some who are used to it. Logos This is the first logo. A word "VIACOM", a group of letters at a time (in an ascending number: "V" (1), "IA" (2) and "COM" (3), slide in from the right, with the background changing color as each one stops. As the screen fades to purple, the letter "V" slides in. Then "IA" slides in, changing the background to green. Then "COM" slides in, changing the background to red. When the word "VIACOM" is formed, the camera quickly pans outward and the words "A" and "PRESENTATION" are seen to the left and right of the word "VIACOM", over a blue background. The logo is in the same font as The Mary Tyler Moore Show logo (called "Peignot") in white. this is nicknamed "Pinball". Happens to the logo there is a version with a red background with black. Other sources has this logo out of sync. there is a Black and White variant on Early Programs. this was contained on DVDs. a rare dark variant excists there is also a sepia variant. incrdit text appears in game shows such as Family Fued. Avalable Programs that use it Extremely rare, due to excessive plastering with subsequent Viacom logos, as well as those of Paramount and CBS. First, The in-credit versions of the logo is rare and have been retained on VHS and DVD releases of The Missiles of October. Second, The color version has turned up on most season 11 & 12 episodes of My Three Sons on The Hallmark Channel back in the early 2000's. Third, Supposedly these include episodes last seen on Nick @ Nite around 1988-90 until a 2017 Decades Weekend Binge. Fourth, The B&W variant of the logo was shown on early 70s prints of The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Family Affair, and The Beverly Hillbillies (the Early Shows), among other classic shows. Fifth, The B&W variant of the logo appeared on a VHS of The Andy Griffith Show by Premier Promotions titled The Andy Griffith Show Double Feature Volume 33 but, On Me-TV, the logo can be appeared on seventeen episodes from both seasons 11.2 and 12 of My Three Sons, but otherwise the odds are unlikely. and Last, The dark variant of the logo appears at the end of the Magnetic Video release of 5 Terrytoon Cartoons Featuring Heckle and Jeckle. Scare Factor: Low to medium. It has scared some by its choppy animation, fast pace, "zoom-out", and primitive music. But that's absolutely nothing compared to the next logo... On a sky blue (or lavender) background, the text "A Viacom Presentation" in a palatino-like typeface zooms-in from the center of the screen at a very fast pace. Then, a fancy-cut, navy blue "V" comes from the center and moves gradually closer and closer to the screen. When it gets to the point where the "V" takes up nearly the entire screen, the screen suddenly cuts to black or fades to black (depending on the version of the logo), with the "V" still moving ever closer. On some episodes of The Twilight Zone on SyFy, the logo (specifically the videotaped variant) is plastered by the "Wigga-Wigga" '90s logo. However, in the few split seconds before that appears, listen carefully during the black screen between credits and logo. You can sometimes hear, faintly, the V of Doom jingle. Happens to the Logo TBA